Pneumatic-tube system.



PATENTED AUG. 2, 1904.

G. F. ATWOOD.

PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEM.

APPLIOATION FILED NOV. 28, 1902.

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N0 MODEL.

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PNEUMATIC TUBE SYSTEM.

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APPLIOATION F ILBD NOV. 28, 1902.

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v nnnm llllll UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE F. ATWOOD. OF HOBOKEN, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO WESTERN ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

PNEUMATIC-TUBE SYSTEM.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,213, filmed A g wt 2, 1904:. Application filed November 28, 1902. serial No. 132,979. (No model.)

To (LZZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE F. A'rwooi), a citizen of the United States, residing at Hoboken, in the county of Hudson and State of New Jersey, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Pneumatic-Tube Systems, (Case No. 3,) of which the followingis a full, clear, concise, and exact description.

My invention relates to a pneumatic ticketdistributing system, more particularly for telephone-exchanges; and its object is to provide an improved organization whereby folded paper tickets may be quickly carried from any one of several distributing-points to any one of several receiving-points without requiring the complication of pneumatic tubes heretofore considered necessary.

In telephoneexchanges where long-distance or toll connections are handled it is customary for the operator who receives the call to make out a ticket showing what lines are to be connected, and this ticket is then transmitted to the receiving operator and constitutes an order to her to put up the connection. The receiving operator by means of a time-stamp notes the duration of the conversation upon the ticket. which is kept as a record.

In a large exchange a number of operators will be kept busy receiving calls and making out tickets, and each of these operatorsmust have meansfor quickly sending her tickets to any one of a number of receiving operators who put up the connections. Various systems have been devised for distributing the tickets. One of the latest involves a separate pneumatic tube from each distributing-board to each receiving-station. By my invention I am enabled to unite branches from several distributing-boards in a single tube which extends to the receiving-station, so that the amount of tubing required in a given exchange will be very greatly reduced.

In cash-carrier systems where cartridges are forced through pneumatic tubes it has been common to provide multiple connections or branches to a single pipe; but where the ticket is simply folded and placed directly in the pneumatic tube instead of in a carrier it has heretofore been found to be impracticable to provide such multiple connections, because a greater increased air-pressure is necessitated. Such increased pressure renders the system inoperative, b'ecause'when the tickets reach the single tube the pressure is so great that the tickets are unfolded or flattened out and may be stuck in the tube. I have overcome this difliculty by providing a relay-valve.

between each branch sending end and the main tube. The relay-valve is connected with a suction device and with a source of air under pressure. The ticket is drawn-through the tube as far as the relay-valve by suction, after which the valve is moved to deliver air behind the ticket above atmospheric pressure and blow it through to the receiving end..

My invention contemplates mechanism for opening and closing the several relay-valves which feed into a single main tube in a regular sequence, so that only a given small number of the valves will be open to the air at any given instant, thus preventing the increase of pressure behind the ticket, which would result if'all the valves were open at once.

A further feature of my system lies in an is a detail end view of the compound relay-valve. Fig. 6 is a cross-sectional Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional View on line 4 4 of Fig. 2. Fig. 5

view on line 6 6 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 7 is a detail view illustrating how the tubes are arranged to deliver the tickets to the operators. The same letters of reference are used to designate the same parts wherever they are:

lay-valves at each of the distributing-tables. l

; there by the lower valve f.

A blower b is provided in association with the several relay-valves, said blower having a suc- Each of the compound.relayvalves at the tables D D I) tion end 5 and a blowing end 6.

is connected by pipes 0 0 with both sides of the blower, the mechanism of each being ar- 1 ranged to connect the receiving-chamber alternately with the suction-pipe c or the pressure-pipe 0 The mechanism of the valves will be understood most clearly by reference to Figs. 2 to 4. The valves may be arranged to accommodate as many tubes as may be desired. '1 have shown the same arranged for ten tubes leading to ten different receiving-points; The branch a of each tube ais led into the bottom of the valve-box (Z in position to register with a receiving-chamber c. The upper end of said receivingchamber registers with the end of a sending-tuberfi, which is, in effect, a continuation of the tube a. Slide-valves ff are provided between the receiving-chamber e and the tubes a a, respectively. Each of these slide-valvesis provided with a hole or passage f which is adapted when. the valve is in the proper position to register with the receiving-chamber and the tube a or (f, as the case may be, so that the receiving chamber will form a continuation of the tube when the valve is in the proper position. Each valve is also provided with a series of channels f which are arranged to connect the receiving chamber c with the source of air .under pressure or with the suction-pipe, as the case may be, when the valve is in an alternative position to that just described. Between each of the receiving-chambers c are passages or compartments g 9 which are connected, respectively, with the suction-pipe c and the pressure-pipe c of the blower through chambers it [L2, respectively, which extend along the sides of the compound valve. The chambers g are provided with ports controlled by the valves f, and the chambers g are provided with similar ports controlled by the valves f. The valves ff are arranged to slide to and froin suitable guideways, and motion is imparted to them by means of the rocking levers k .i', as shown most clearly in Fig. 2. The rocking levers k at the several distributing-tables I) D D are connected to eccentrics carried by a common shaft 1, which is kept continuously in rotation by any suitablemotor device, so that the valves ff will be constantly moving to and fro.

side of the blower.

intothe receiving-chamber. being stopped Bars are left between the channels f in the valves, forming a grid instead of leaving an unobstructed passage through the valve. In the alternative position of the valves the lower end of the receiving-chamber is connected with the pipe a to form a continuation thereof, and the upper end of said chamber is opened to the pressure-chamber g ,\vl1ich is connected, through the chamber A and pipe 0 with the pressure As the valves are thus moved reciprocally the ticket is first drawn bysuction through the receiving-tube into the receiving-chamber and is then blown through the transmitting-tubes a w to the receivingpoint R.

The eccentrics which operate the valve mechanism of the several relay-valves are arranged in different relative positions upon the shaft I, so that the valves which feed-a given tube a will not be opened and closed together, but in sequence one after the other that is to say, first the tube a. at the table D will be opened to the blower, then as it is closing the branch 6/ at table D will be opened, and finally the branch at table D. By this arrangement the pressure in the tube ais kept down to approximately the same as that which would be used in a system of single tubes.

I prefer to deliver the tickets to the receiving operators at the switchboards R, as shown most clearly in detail in Fig. 7. The delivery end of the tube is arranged vertically at the back of the switchboard behind an opening 0. Deflecting-iingeis p are provided, which receive the ticket as it is blown out of the tube and direct the same directly upon the table of the switchboard immediately in front of the operator. The current of air, however, passes directly up behind the vertical part of the switchboard. The ticket is thus laid flat upon the table in front of the operator Without any action on her part and without subjecting her to the annoyance of a current of air.-

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, the following:

1. The combination with a main pneumatic tube and a receiving branch thereof, of a source of air under pressure and a source of suction, a relay device having a receivingchamber, and valve mechanism adapted to con nect the receiving branch through said receiving-chamber with the source of suction and alternatively to connect the main tube through said receivingchamber with the 1 source of air under pressure, whereby a ticket placed in the receiving branch is drawn into the relay device and thence blown through the main tube, as set forth.

2. The combination with a pneumatic tube. receiving and mechanism for continuously opening and closing said valves in sequence.

3. The combination with a series of receiving-tubes a and transmitting-tubes a, of an air-pump adapted for suction and compression, a relay device comprising receivingchambers e, suction and pressure chambers suitably connected to said air-pump, valves f adapted to connect one end of each of said chambers e alternatively with the suctionchambers or With the transmitting-tubes, and valves f adapted to connect the other end of each of said chambers e alternatively with the receiving-tubes or with the pressure-chambers, and mechanism for reciprocally moving the valves.

4. The combination with a receiving-board R having a vertical face and a table portion, of a pneumatic ticket-delivery tube at the back of the board near an openingin the face thereof, said tube being arranged to direct its current of air behind the board along the vertical portion thereof, and an open-work deflector p arranged to receive the tickets from the mouth of the tube, and adapted to direct the same through said opening onto the table While allowing. the current of air to pass behind the board.

In Witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 18th day of September, A. D. 1902.

GEORGE F. ATWOOI). Witnesses:

H. \V. JACKSON, HENRY F. WVHITE. 

